Launch Day Interview with Anthony Castoro

Today is an exciting day for MMOs as Gods & Heroes finally gets its launch with Heatwave Interactive. The game had been in development some time ago under Perpetual Studio, but now has been resurrected by Heatwave to finally give players the chance to adventure in the ancient Greek and Roman mythos. Gods & Heroes has some amazing features and looks to give players a full MMO experience. We talked to Anthony Castoro, CEO of Heatwave Interactive to discuss launching the game and building up a solid MMO community around this fantastic world.

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Anthony explained that Heatwave worked very hard to build and polish the game when they got the rights to it. Most of all they took into account player feedback and tested out the game to make sure the right polish was put in. Anthony explained how important the Beta phases for G&H were to help build the game that players wanted. Now all of the changes planned were set for launch, but the team has a clear plan for the upcoming months to expand content and game play.

One of the things Chris felt strongly about was rewarding players. Part of the player feedback that was implemented into the launch of the game from beta was that corpses glow when loot is available. The loot players will get is all worthwhile. Anthony wants loot to mean something in the game so there is not a lot of trash loot for anyone. Players will get gold from everything and there will be a text feed that tells you how much you picked up. Anthony definitely wants players to have a solid MMO experience from beta and the game will continue to improve with the help of the players.

Working with the original game came as somewhat of a challenge at times. Anthony explained that every now and then they would hit a design decision that was made from the original game and the team’s reaction was “Really?” Working through the game the team has been able to take negative elements and make them into a positive. Anthony was still very serious about giving props to the original team who worked at Perpetual. The team was credited with the early version of the code. Heatwave took up the cause and added a lot of shine and fixes, but the company does not forget where the game came from and believes in giving credit when due.

Some of the areas that Heatwave really made some improvements to were with the tandem combat animations. In Gods & Heroes you can quest with a team of NPCs who support your character. Some fight, some heal, but you are never alone. Another area of combat that the team really worked to polish was with the monster animations. Characters can be eaten, squished, or kicked around all of which is shown clearly on the screen. These great game elements are finally seeing the light of day.

One area Anthony was eager to talk about was post launch plans for the game. They have so much to add starting with two character classes that were not ready for launch. They also have another ten levels of content that are being tested right now to add into the game. This includes 4-6 maps, 2-3 instances, and even new cities all coming post-launch.

Looking forward, in the coming months Anthony said the team has the crafting and auction systems in the works as well as a PvP system which is still in its early design stages. When it comes to PvP Anthony wants players to look at the game like the ancient Romans might. Players will have their estate, PvP, and politics to map out lots of opportunities to make their fortune in the endgame. With all this planned for G&H, Anthony was cautious to warn that features always change and planning stages are subject to a lot of hurdles. Still, he wants players to know that Heatwave is serious about creating a fun environment for everyone with lots to build on. When asked about Heatwave’s plans as a studio, obviously their focus is on Gods & Heroes, but the team is looking forward to a next generation MMO. Anthony is definitely an executive who gets it: he has resurrected a solid game that deserved to see the light of day and continues to look forward with player feedback in mind.

Check out Gods & Heroes and step back into the ancient times of myth and legend… and of course, Romans.